A 17-year-old British sailor yesterday became the youngest person to sail around the world without assistance, completing the solo trip in nine months.
Mike Perham grabbed the solo record after completing the 45,000-kilometre journey, crossing the finish line in Cornwall, southern England. He is now sailing to Portsmouth for a celebration tomorrow.
He had set out from Portsmouth in southern Britain on November 15 last year. During the gruelling journey, Perham said he tackled 15 metre waves, gale force winds and technical problems.
The Briton, who sailed across the Atlantic alone when he was 15, had originally intended to complete the 40,000-kilometre challenge without interruption. But technical problems forced him to make several stops. He never got more than 20 minutes sleep at a time.
"It's definitely the hardest part of the trip being on your own because there is no one there to help you, and you do miss the physical contact," he told the BBC.
Perham's team said on his website Totallymoney.com that he finished the trip in his 15-metre racing yacht mid-morning yesterday,
The teenager set off in November 2008.
Perham is a few months younger than Zac Sunderland, a 17-year-old from Thousand Oaks, California. He had grabbed the youngest solo crown in July when he completed a similar trip in 13 months.
To mark his achievement, the Guinness Book of World Records created a new category for Perham ... the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe unsupported.
Gunness's closest record to Perham's, youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe unsupported and without stopping, is now held by Jesse Martin of Melbourne, Australia.
He compelted the trip when he was 18 years and 104 days old.
Mike Perham grabbed the solo record after completing the 45,000-kilometre journey, crossing the finish line in Cornwall, England.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
What decides start of Ramadan: science or politics?
Regrettably, politics plays a role, and sectarian feuds play a role which runs counter to Islamic teachings.
In a departure from well-established tradition developed over centuries,Saudi Arabia last Thursday evening used telescopes for the first time to monitor the birth of the lunar fasting month of Ramadan.
Legal moon sighting panels across the Middle East have appealed to citizens to look for the crescent of Ramadan,which according to unequivocal Koranic verses heralds the start of fasting for 1.5 billion Muslims throughout the world.
Theoretically, if the crescent was sighted Thursday evening either by the traditional method of the naked eye or through telescopes, Muslims would start fasting from dawn to sunset on Friday.Otherwise, the beginning of the month of Ramadan would be on Saturday.
However, many think that politics plays a role in deciding the start and the end of the fasting month, a phenomenon that aggravates Arab and Islamic divisions.
"Regrettably, politics plays a role, and sectarian feuds play a role - which runs counter to Islamic teachings," said Ibrahim Zeid Kilani, the head of Iftaa (judgements) for the Jordanian political party,the Islamic Action Front.
"As a result of political alignments,we see Ramadan starting differently in Iran, Oman or Morocco," he said.
He attributed feuds over when Ramadan starts and ends to the absence of democratically elected governments in several countries in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
"This happens because people stay aloof from governments, and rulers govern according to their discretion," he said.
Mr Kilani referred to practices in the past when some Arab countries clustered around Saudi Arabia, while others joined Egypt in deciding differently the start and end of the fasting month.
Iran, the Islamic world's major Shia (Shi'ite) country, most of the time keeps up the tradition of fasting one or two days earlier or later than the predominantly Sunni Arab world.
And Shi'ite communities in Iraq,Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain and other Arab countries almost always follow the Iranian lead.
"It is high time for Muslims all over the world to strictly adhere to the Almighty's orders and start fasting only when the moon is clearly sighted," Mr Kilani said.
He supported the utilisation of science and astronomical calculations to verify the advent of Ramadan and clear any suspicions regarding the birth of the crescent.
He recited from the holy Koran,"The Sun and the Moon follow their exact course."
Saudi scholar Mohsen Awaji also regretted that "politicians were exploiting these massive occasions" and supported making use of astronomical calculations to prove the start and end of Ramadan.
"My opinion is that the nation should supersede opportunist politicians and those who fear science," said Mr Awaji,a member of the International Federation of Islamic Scholars, speaking to the Dohabased al-Jazeera satellite channel.
"I believe Islamic scholars and astronomers should team up to decide with precision the beginning of Ramadan,as the development of such mechanism will help to end feuds on this score," he said.
In a departure from well-established tradition developed over centuries,Saudi Arabia last Thursday evening used telescopes for the first time to monitor the birth of the lunar fasting month of Ramadan.
Legal moon sighting panels across the Middle East have appealed to citizens to look for the crescent of Ramadan,which according to unequivocal Koranic verses heralds the start of fasting for 1.5 billion Muslims throughout the world.
Theoretically, if the crescent was sighted Thursday evening either by the traditional method of the naked eye or through telescopes, Muslims would start fasting from dawn to sunset on Friday.Otherwise, the beginning of the month of Ramadan would be on Saturday.
However, many think that politics plays a role in deciding the start and the end of the fasting month, a phenomenon that aggravates Arab and Islamic divisions.
"Regrettably, politics plays a role, and sectarian feuds play a role - which runs counter to Islamic teachings," said Ibrahim Zeid Kilani, the head of Iftaa (judgements) for the Jordanian political party,the Islamic Action Front.
"As a result of political alignments,we see Ramadan starting differently in Iran, Oman or Morocco," he said.
He attributed feuds over when Ramadan starts and ends to the absence of democratically elected governments in several countries in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
"This happens because people stay aloof from governments, and rulers govern according to their discretion," he said.
Mr Kilani referred to practices in the past when some Arab countries clustered around Saudi Arabia, while others joined Egypt in deciding differently the start and end of the fasting month.
Iran, the Islamic world's major Shia (Shi'ite) country, most of the time keeps up the tradition of fasting one or two days earlier or later than the predominantly Sunni Arab world.
And Shi'ite communities in Iraq,Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain and other Arab countries almost always follow the Iranian lead.
"It is high time for Muslims all over the world to strictly adhere to the Almighty's orders and start fasting only when the moon is clearly sighted," Mr Kilani said.
He supported the utilisation of science and astronomical calculations to verify the advent of Ramadan and clear any suspicions regarding the birth of the crescent.
He recited from the holy Koran,"The Sun and the Moon follow their exact course."
Saudi scholar Mohsen Awaji also regretted that "politicians were exploiting these massive occasions" and supported making use of astronomical calculations to prove the start and end of Ramadan.
"My opinion is that the nation should supersede opportunist politicians and those who fear science," said Mr Awaji,a member of the International Federation of Islamic Scholars, speaking to the Dohabased al-Jazeera satellite channel.
"I believe Islamic scholars and astronomers should team up to decide with precision the beginning of Ramadan,as the development of such mechanism will help to end feuds on this score," he said.
South Korea satellite launch goes astray
South Korea launched its first ever space rocket yesterday but failed to place a satellite into its correct orbit.
The launch, called a partial success by officials, came less than five months after nuclear-armed rival North Korea incurred international anger by firing its own long-range rocket.
The Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 lifted off on schedule at 5.00pm, to the jubilation of officials and guests at the Naro Space Centre.
The Russian-made first stage separated successfully less than five minutes later and the South Koreanbuilt 100kg scientific research satellite was then placed into Earth's orbit.
But Science and Technology Minister Ahn Byong-man said it was not following the proper course.
"All aspects of the launch were normal,but the satellite exceeded its planned orbit and reached an altitude of 360km,"Mr Ahn said. It should have separated at around 302km.
"A joint probe is under way by South Korean and Russian engineers to find the exact cause," the minister added.
Korea Aerospace Research Institute chief Lee Joo-jin said:"Since the 100kg scientific satellite does not have any onboard propulsion systems, if it fails to enter proper orbit there is no way to correct its trajectory."
The launch could be seen as "partially successful", he added.
Seoul has invested more than 500 billion won and much national pride in the 33m rocket.
The launch, called a partial success by officials, came less than five months after nuclear-armed rival North Korea incurred international anger by firing its own long-range rocket.
The Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 lifted off on schedule at 5.00pm, to the jubilation of officials and guests at the Naro Space Centre.
The Russian-made first stage separated successfully less than five minutes later and the South Koreanbuilt 100kg scientific research satellite was then placed into Earth's orbit.
But Science and Technology Minister Ahn Byong-man said it was not following the proper course.
"All aspects of the launch were normal,but the satellite exceeded its planned orbit and reached an altitude of 360km,"Mr Ahn said. It should have separated at around 302km.
"A joint probe is under way by South Korean and Russian engineers to find the exact cause," the minister added.
Korea Aerospace Research Institute chief Lee Joo-jin said:"Since the 100kg scientific satellite does not have any onboard propulsion systems, if it fails to enter proper orbit there is no way to correct its trajectory."
The launch could be seen as "partially successful", he added.
Seoul has invested more than 500 billion won and much national pride in the 33m rocket.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Vehicular intelligence
The Robotics Society, in collaboration with Seagate Technology (Thailand) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), held the final round of the Thailand Intelligent Vehicle Challenge 2009(TIVC)at the Bangkok Racing Circuit, on July 29.
This year eight teams from seven universities competed in the driverless-car race.
The challenge was designed to foster creativity and innovative skills in Thai university students through robotic automation and automotive technologies. To compete in the competition, each team had to design and construct an unmanned intelligent vehicle.
Driverless race
The cars could not have a driver,nor could they be controlled remotely.The teams had to programme their cars to travel along the planned course,exceed the distance set and avoid obstacles as defined by the cars' programming that is designed to assist the cars during self-navigation along the prescribed route.
In the race, the teams paired up to compete in each round. Two cars started from different starting points about 900 metres away from each other.The team whose car comes at least 100 metres closer to the finish line than their opponent's car would win.
Alternatively, the car that could cover the longest distance within 20 minutes would be the winner. Cars that could avoid obstacles placed along the way would get a 100-metre bonus per obstacle.
It was the first time that the competition divided the teams into pairs,with one team in a pair competing against the other.
The speed was limited to 43km per hour."Someday we expect that the cars can be applied in real-life situations," said Assoc Prof Dr Manukid Parnichkun, chairman of the contest's organising committee.
Winners
The victorious team was the Khenchai team from AIT. It was awarded a 300,000-baht cash prize and a trophy. The first runner-up position went to the Air Force II team from the Royal Thai Air Force Acad-emy, which received 200,000 baht in cash and a plaque.
Both the Khenchai and Air Force II teams were worthy rivals. The winner was selected by comparing the distances the two cars had covered.Khenchai ran a total of 7,901.2 metres and obtained 1,800 metres in bonuses by avoiding several obstacles on its tracks, while Air Force II scored 7,161.4 metres plus 1,400 metres in bonus points. As a result, Khenchai won by a narrow margin.
The other teams that received prizes included Arrive-II from Mae Fah Luang University, Pakchee from AIT and Duck Riders from King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok. They won the Excellent Technique Award, Excellent Creativity Award and Excellent Energy-saving Design Award,respectively.
The challenge
"In a normal robotic challenge,students need to apply their mechatronic, mechanical and computer skills, however, in this competition,they must have in-depth knowledge of automobile design as well," Prof Manukid said, explaining the challenges that the contestants had to surmount.
Methee Srisupundit, a member of the Khenchai team, said that this year's most-daunting hurdle required the teams to incorporate speed in their cars as well.
He explained that last year, the winner of the competition was the car that simply covered the greatest distance.
"When we programme the computer installed in the car, we have to seriously consider the safety and stability of the electronic components.We have to ensure that these devices can work effectively despite frequent use over a long period of time and do not give rise to any problem," said Methee, talking about what he considered was the most important lesson he learned from participating in the competition.
He recommends that those interested in taking part in the competition next year practise assembling a vehicle regularly."The more you practise,the more problems you can come across and find solutions to," Methee said.
This year eight teams from seven universities competed in the driverless-car race.
The challenge was designed to foster creativity and innovative skills in Thai university students through robotic automation and automotive technologies. To compete in the competition, each team had to design and construct an unmanned intelligent vehicle.
Driverless race
The cars could not have a driver,nor could they be controlled remotely.The teams had to programme their cars to travel along the planned course,exceed the distance set and avoid obstacles as defined by the cars' programming that is designed to assist the cars during self-navigation along the prescribed route.
In the race, the teams paired up to compete in each round. Two cars started from different starting points about 900 metres away from each other.The team whose car comes at least 100 metres closer to the finish line than their opponent's car would win.
Alternatively, the car that could cover the longest distance within 20 minutes would be the winner. Cars that could avoid obstacles placed along the way would get a 100-metre bonus per obstacle.
It was the first time that the competition divided the teams into pairs,with one team in a pair competing against the other.
The speed was limited to 43km per hour."Someday we expect that the cars can be applied in real-life situations," said Assoc Prof Dr Manukid Parnichkun, chairman of the contest's organising committee.
Winners
The victorious team was the Khenchai team from AIT. It was awarded a 300,000-baht cash prize and a trophy. The first runner-up position went to the Air Force II team from the Royal Thai Air Force Acad-emy, which received 200,000 baht in cash and a plaque.
Both the Khenchai and Air Force II teams were worthy rivals. The winner was selected by comparing the distances the two cars had covered.Khenchai ran a total of 7,901.2 metres and obtained 1,800 metres in bonuses by avoiding several obstacles on its tracks, while Air Force II scored 7,161.4 metres plus 1,400 metres in bonus points. As a result, Khenchai won by a narrow margin.
The other teams that received prizes included Arrive-II from Mae Fah Luang University, Pakchee from AIT and Duck Riders from King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok. They won the Excellent Technique Award, Excellent Creativity Award and Excellent Energy-saving Design Award,respectively.
The challenge
"In a normal robotic challenge,students need to apply their mechatronic, mechanical and computer skills, however, in this competition,they must have in-depth knowledge of automobile design as well," Prof Manukid said, explaining the challenges that the contestants had to surmount.
Methee Srisupundit, a member of the Khenchai team, said that this year's most-daunting hurdle required the teams to incorporate speed in their cars as well.
He explained that last year, the winner of the competition was the car that simply covered the greatest distance.
"When we programme the computer installed in the car, we have to seriously consider the safety and stability of the electronic components.We have to ensure that these devices can work effectively despite frequent use over a long period of time and do not give rise to any problem," said Methee, talking about what he considered was the most important lesson he learned from participating in the competition.
He recommends that those interested in taking part in the competition next year practise assembling a vehicle regularly."The more you practise,the more problems you can come across and find solutions to," Methee said.
South Korea prosecutors seek jail for cloning scientist
Prosecutors yesterday demanded a four-year prison term for a South Korean scientist disgracedin a cloning scandal that shook the international scientific community and led to his trial on fraud and other charges.
Hwang Woo-suk was fired from the prestigious Seoul National University after purported breakthroughs, including the claim of producing a human embryo through cloning and recovering stem cells from it, were deemed bogus in 2005, when a key paper was found to contain fake data.
Once hailed as a national hero. Hwang is accused of accpeting funds under false pretences, embezzlement and illegally buying human eggs for his research, charges tht are related to the fake claims.
Hwang and his colleagues claimed in 2004 to have produced a human embryo through cloining and to have recovered stem cells from it.
A year later, Hwang said the team created humann embryonic stem cells genetically matched to specific patients, a purported breakthrough that promised a way to withstand rejection by a patient's immune system.
But a universityy committee later declared the 2005 paper a fraud based on faked data, and cast boubt on his 2004 findings as well.
Hwang Woo-suk was fired from the prestigious Seoul National University after purported breakthroughs, including the claim of producing a human embryo through cloning and recovering stem cells from it, were deemed bogus in 2005, when a key paper was found to contain fake data.
Once hailed as a national hero. Hwang is accused of accpeting funds under false pretences, embezzlement and illegally buying human eggs for his research, charges tht are related to the fake claims.
Hwang and his colleagues claimed in 2004 to have produced a human embryo through cloining and to have recovered stem cells from it.
A year later, Hwang said the team created humann embryonic stem cells genetically matched to specific patients, a purported breakthrough that promised a way to withstand rejection by a patient's immune system.
But a universityy committee later declared the 2005 paper a fraud based on faked data, and cast boubt on his 2004 findings as well.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Scientists find way to combat forged DNA
Israeli scientists have developed new technology to fight biological identity theft after realising that DNA evidence found at crime scenes can be easily falsified.
The researchers showed that with the use of basic equipment and knwo-how, anyone can obtain artificial DNA that can be incorporated into genuine human blood or saliva, or directly planted at a crime scene.
"Current forensic procedure fails to distinguish between such samples of blood, saliva and touched surfaces with artificial DNA," the scientists wrote in a recent article published by the scientific journal, "Forensic Science International: Genetics".
Elon Ganor is CEO and co-founder of Nucleix, an Israeli company specialised in DNA analysis that conducted the research. He said it doesn't take much to produce large quantites of artificial DNA.
"You can take a used cup of coffee or a cigarette butt, send it to a laboratory, and for a relatively small sum of money have their DNA identified, produced and sent back to you in a test tube," he said.
The DNA samples, which are produced using a standard technique called whole genome amplification, can then be planted at a crime scene.
Researchers at Nucleix also demonstrated how one could implant DNA into real blood by using a centrifuge to separate red and white blood cells and placing the DNA in the former, giving the blood a new profile.
As part of the experiment, a sample of the modified blood was sent to a laboratory in the United States that works with FBI forensicteams, which failed to catch the forgery, Ganor said.
To combat the practice, Nucleix has developed a DNA authentication method that distinguishes between real and fake samples.
"We have come up with a solution that should become an integral part of the standard DNA test today and seal the hole that has been opened in what has become the gold-standard in forensics," Ganor said.
The new process was tested on natural and artificial samples of blood, saliva and touched surfaces, with complete success, according to Nucleix.
It also identifies "contaminated" DNA that has been mixed with two or more samples.
Forensic DNA profiling is today one of the most powerful tools applied on crime scenes, and is often used to convict or acquit suspects in rape and murder cases.
The researchers showed that with the use of basic equipment and knwo-how, anyone can obtain artificial DNA that can be incorporated into genuine human blood or saliva, or directly planted at a crime scene.
"Current forensic procedure fails to distinguish between such samples of blood, saliva and touched surfaces with artificial DNA," the scientists wrote in a recent article published by the scientific journal, "Forensic Science International: Genetics".
Elon Ganor is CEO and co-founder of Nucleix, an Israeli company specialised in DNA analysis that conducted the research. He said it doesn't take much to produce large quantites of artificial DNA.
"You can take a used cup of coffee or a cigarette butt, send it to a laboratory, and for a relatively small sum of money have their DNA identified, produced and sent back to you in a test tube," he said.
The DNA samples, which are produced using a standard technique called whole genome amplification, can then be planted at a crime scene.
Researchers at Nucleix also demonstrated how one could implant DNA into real blood by using a centrifuge to separate red and white blood cells and placing the DNA in the former, giving the blood a new profile.
As part of the experiment, a sample of the modified blood was sent to a laboratory in the United States that works with FBI forensicteams, which failed to catch the forgery, Ganor said.
To combat the practice, Nucleix has developed a DNA authentication method that distinguishes between real and fake samples.
"We have come up with a solution that should become an integral part of the standard DNA test today and seal the hole that has been opened in what has become the gold-standard in forensics," Ganor said.
The new process was tested on natural and artificial samples of blood, saliva and touched surfaces, with complete success, according to Nucleix.
It also identifies "contaminated" DNA that has been mixed with two or more samples.
Forensic DNA profiling is today one of the most powerful tools applied on crime scenes, and is often used to convict or acquit suspects in rape and murder cases.
WALKING ROUND IN CIRCLES
Ever feel that no matter how hard you try, you're walking in circles? A preliminary study by European scientists says that you are.
According to the study carried out using global positioning software, the myth that people who try to walk a straight line and find themselves going in circles is actually true.
The study was carried out by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics and published in Thursday's edition of Current Biology.
"What we found is that people really do walk in circles," the lead researcher, jan Souman, said earlier this week.
He said that studies of nine people walking in the dsert and in a forest found that all tended to go in circles and/or veer from a straight line if there was nothing to guide their way.
In the desert, Souman said two people were told to walk a straight line during the day. While neighter managed to go in a complete circle, they both veered off from walking a straight line. The third walked at night, by the light of the full moon, but when it was obscured by clouds he made several turns, ending up in the direction he came.
In another test, six students were taken to a large but flat forest and told to walk a straight line. Four of them walked under a cloudy sky with the sun hidden from view by the trees and clouds. They all ended up walking in circles despite thinking they were going straight.
The other two managed to stay fairly straight but souman said that was because the sun was out.
"The people who were walking in circles in the forest fouldn't see the sun," he said.
All nine walkers were tracked with GPS and their routes - straight, circuitous or otherwise - were digitally mapped.
Like those in the desert, when the sun was out, the forest walkers were able to stay on a straighter course.
However, put on a blindfold and ear plugs and "people did all kinds of things," Souman said.
"One always went in circles. One went in a zigzag," he said. "It was really hard to find a common denominator."
Souman said similar tests are being done using virtual reality with the results, so far, showing that walkers "seemed to do the same thing in the virtual forest, too."
According to the study carried out using global positioning software, the myth that people who try to walk a straight line and find themselves going in circles is actually true.
The study was carried out by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics and published in Thursday's edition of Current Biology.
"What we found is that people really do walk in circles," the lead researcher, jan Souman, said earlier this week.
He said that studies of nine people walking in the dsert and in a forest found that all tended to go in circles and/or veer from a straight line if there was nothing to guide their way.
In the desert, Souman said two people were told to walk a straight line during the day. While neighter managed to go in a complete circle, they both veered off from walking a straight line. The third walked at night, by the light of the full moon, but when it was obscured by clouds he made several turns, ending up in the direction he came.
In another test, six students were taken to a large but flat forest and told to walk a straight line. Four of them walked under a cloudy sky with the sun hidden from view by the trees and clouds. They all ended up walking in circles despite thinking they were going straight.
The other two managed to stay fairly straight but souman said that was because the sun was out.
"The people who were walking in circles in the forest fouldn't see the sun," he said.
All nine walkers were tracked with GPS and their routes - straight, circuitous or otherwise - were digitally mapped.
Like those in the desert, when the sun was out, the forest walkers were able to stay on a straighter course.
However, put on a blindfold and ear plugs and "people did all kinds of things," Souman said.
"One always went in circles. One went in a zigzag," he said. "It was really hard to find a common denominator."
Souman said similar tests are being done using virtual reality with the results, so far, showing that walkers "seemed to do the same thing in the virtual forest, too."
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Joint bid for giant telescope
Australia and New Zealand announced a joint bid yesterday for a giant radio telescope project which will seek out the earliest traces of the universe in a search for intelligent life.
The Pacific neighbours said their joint $2.1 billion bid was one of two on the shortlist for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a project which will use 4,000 telescopes as a single device to tap into deep space.
"The SKA project promises to be a top global science project of the 21st century, using one of the world's most powerful computers to explore fundamental questions in science," said New Zealand Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee.
The array, which will be able to see back to the formation of the first stars,was one of the world's most significant "mega-science" projects, said Mr Brownlee, who signed the formal agreement in Sydney yesterday.
Australia's Science Minister Kim Carr said the joint bid proposed erecting 4,000 antennas that would stretch 5,000km from Australia's west coast to New Zealand, and described the trans-Tasman involvement as "crucial".
A final decision on whether Australia and New Zealand or rival bidder South Africa will host the SKA will be made in 2012, and construction will take between six and eight years, the ministers said.
Australia has already outbid Argentina,China and the US to make the final two.
A global consortium involving more than 50 institutions from 19 countries was driving the SKA programme, and money for the project was expected to come from international partner governments, they added.
The SKA would be 10,000 times more powerful than current instruments and will try to determine whether there is intelligent life beyond Earth and what happened after the Big Bang.
The Pacific neighbours said their joint $2.1 billion bid was one of two on the shortlist for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a project which will use 4,000 telescopes as a single device to tap into deep space.
"The SKA project promises to be a top global science project of the 21st century, using one of the world's most powerful computers to explore fundamental questions in science," said New Zealand Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee.
The array, which will be able to see back to the formation of the first stars,was one of the world's most significant "mega-science" projects, said Mr Brownlee, who signed the formal agreement in Sydney yesterday.
Australia's Science Minister Kim Carr said the joint bid proposed erecting 4,000 antennas that would stretch 5,000km from Australia's west coast to New Zealand, and described the trans-Tasman involvement as "crucial".
A final decision on whether Australia and New Zealand or rival bidder South Africa will host the SKA will be made in 2012, and construction will take between six and eight years, the ministers said.
Australia has already outbid Argentina,China and the US to make the final two.
A global consortium involving more than 50 institutions from 19 countries was driving the SKA programme, and money for the project was expected to come from international partner governments, they added.
The SKA would be 10,000 times more powerful than current instruments and will try to determine whether there is intelligent life beyond Earth and what happened after the Big Bang.
CLOSING IN ON CLEOPATRA
Egypt's archaeology chief spills the secrets of his latest discovery in an exclusive interview with The Nation
The most famous Egypotolist in the world and instantly recognisable for his signature Indiana Jones hat ("It gives me luck ... and it's more famous than the Indiana Jones hat"), is just a busy guy hopping from tomb to tomb, valley to valley in the sands of his native land.
He announces his new discoveries at various dig sites almost every week on his website, and also finds time to show visiting world leaders around the Pyramids.
He's particular proud of his recent encounter with US President Barack Obama whom he led on a tour of the Great Pyramids at Giza.
"I was thrilled. The hour and a half I spent with the President was very important. He's real gentleman, a great man. We joked all the time: I told him face to face, 'you look like King Tut'.
"I really think this man will change a lot in the world. I hope he can make peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis. He's a simple man and this gives him charisma. His modesty gives him power."
With the aid of Hawass's long-teim Thai friend, Dumrong Poottan of Koosang Koosom magazine, it's a privilege to catch him free for a 20-minute interview at his office at the Council of Supreme Antiquities in Cairo, where he's secretary general.
Shaking hands with this tall, heavyset figure, its' hard to believe he's the same man we see on TV shimmying down the shafts of ancient underground tombs. But it's true that Hawass is the 21st-century guardian of a 5,000 year-old heritage, with a boundless passion for exploring and preserving his country's ancient treasures. His regal Greco-Roman looks have even prompted suggestions he's the reincarnationa of a pharoah.
Right now, all he wants to talk about is his latest discovery: what are believed to be the tombs of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, unearthed beside the 2,300-year-old temple of Taposiris Magna, 50 kilometres west of Alexandria.
"We've been excavating for the last four years and have discovered two statues of Cleopatra and 22 coins bearing her image," says Hawass, eyes wide with enthusiasm. "We found a large cemetery reserved for royalty and a group of cemeteries for important persons."
The search for Cleopatra's tomb stems from his passion for the Ptolemaic queen renowned forher beauty. "When I was about 15 years old, I was in love with Cleopatra. I wanted to reveal her secrets," he says.
Hawass began the search with a recent radar survey carried out by an Egyptian team. It revealed three possible spots where tombs might be located.
The expedition, co-led by Dr Kathleen
Martinez from the Dominican Republic, began digging and unearthed 27 chambers, 20 of them shaped like vaulted sarcophagi. The remaining seven were more elaborate,consisting of staircases leading to burial chambers. Inside these tombs, the team found 10 mummies, two of them gilded and believed to be those of the famous couple.
The coins discovered in the temple show Cleopatra with a large nose, prompting some scholars to theorise that the queen's beauty was just a myth.
Hawass disagrees.
"A big nose doesn't mean she was ugly. I know many beautiful women with big noese ... The woman who captured the hearts of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony couldn't have been ugly".
He also has a theory on the legendary love triangle: "People say she was in love with Caesar rather than Mark Antony. Martinez, however, believes she was in love with the latter. But my opinion is that her motive was political control and she used her charms on both men."
The other important find is a mask depicting a man with a cleft chin. The face bears some resemblance to known protraits of Mark Antony.
But so far the evidence isn't strong enough to verify that these are the tombs of Antony and Cleopatra, says Hawass: "After more than 60 per cent of the excavation ... we can say the theory could be true because of finds like the statues of Cleopatra and her coins. We also discovered two gold-covered mummies in front of the temple entrance of the temple and eight ungilded mummies.
"Luck plays a big role in discoveries like there," he adds. "I'm a lucky person."
Hinting perhaps at a future expedition, he points to evidence suggesting Alexander the Great was buried in Alexandria. For now though, his focus is on Taposiris Magna, where the team is still busy trying to identify the mummies.
The other development exciting the Egyptologist is the analysis of mummies of the family members of King Tutankhamun, whose famed gold death mask is on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
"I will announce next month the results of CT scanning and DNA analysis. It will tell us more about his father, mother, grandfather and how Tutankhamun died," he explains.
This project benefits hugely from two laboratories, one in he basement of the Cairo musuem and the other at Cairo University. They are the first in the world established specially for mummy analysis. "We need two separate labs so as to verify the results," he says, adding that research done in this way meets international standards and ensures all mummy identification can be done in Egypt.
Of all his discoveries, Hawass says he's proudest of the tombs of the Pyramid builders, one unearthed at Giza and the other at the Valley of the Golden Mummies in the Bahariya Oasis. The digs, he says, overturned long-held beliefs that the pyramids were built by slaves rather than Egyptians.
Hawass is also leading a campaign to repatriate Egyptian artefacts that have been whisked away to foreign musuems. His main focus is the "big five": the Rosetta Stone (in the British Museum), the Nefertiti Bust (in the British Museum), the Nefertiti Bust (in Berlin's Altes Museum), the zodiac ceiling painting from the Dendera Temple (the Louvre), the bust of Ankhhaf, architect of the Khafra Pyramid (Boston's Museum of Fine Arts) and the statue of Hemiunu, nephew of the Pharaoh Khufu and architect of Giza's Great Pyramid (Germany's Pelizaeus Museum).
"Now I'd like to add a sixth, the statue of Rameses II in Turin," he says.
"I'm writing a letter to the Berlin museum to say that I've found no proof the bust of Nefertiti left Egypt legally.
"I don't want everything back, but I want the return of that which has been stolen from Egypt," he emphasises, adding that it takes a lot of "passion, pride and writing" to recover such high-profile artefacts.
The most famous Egypotolist in the world and instantly recognisable for his signature Indiana Jones hat ("It gives me luck ... and it's more famous than the Indiana Jones hat"), is just a busy guy hopping from tomb to tomb, valley to valley in the sands of his native land.
He announces his new discoveries at various dig sites almost every week on his website, and also finds time to show visiting world leaders around the Pyramids.
He's particular proud of his recent encounter with US President Barack Obama whom he led on a tour of the Great Pyramids at Giza.
"I was thrilled. The hour and a half I spent with the President was very important. He's real gentleman, a great man. We joked all the time: I told him face to face, 'you look like King Tut'.
"I really think this man will change a lot in the world. I hope he can make peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis. He's a simple man and this gives him charisma. His modesty gives him power."
With the aid of Hawass's long-teim Thai friend, Dumrong Poottan of Koosang Koosom magazine, it's a privilege to catch him free for a 20-minute interview at his office at the Council of Supreme Antiquities in Cairo, where he's secretary general.
Shaking hands with this tall, heavyset figure, its' hard to believe he's the same man we see on TV shimmying down the shafts of ancient underground tombs. But it's true that Hawass is the 21st-century guardian of a 5,000 year-old heritage, with a boundless passion for exploring and preserving his country's ancient treasures. His regal Greco-Roman looks have even prompted suggestions he's the reincarnationa of a pharoah.
Right now, all he wants to talk about is his latest discovery: what are believed to be the tombs of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, unearthed beside the 2,300-year-old temple of Taposiris Magna, 50 kilometres west of Alexandria.
"We've been excavating for the last four years and have discovered two statues of Cleopatra and 22 coins bearing her image," says Hawass, eyes wide with enthusiasm. "We found a large cemetery reserved for royalty and a group of cemeteries for important persons."
The search for Cleopatra's tomb stems from his passion for the Ptolemaic queen renowned forher beauty. "When I was about 15 years old, I was in love with Cleopatra. I wanted to reveal her secrets," he says.
Hawass began the search with a recent radar survey carried out by an Egyptian team. It revealed three possible spots where tombs might be located.
The expedition, co-led by Dr Kathleen
Martinez from the Dominican Republic, began digging and unearthed 27 chambers, 20 of them shaped like vaulted sarcophagi. The remaining seven were more elaborate,consisting of staircases leading to burial chambers. Inside these tombs, the team found 10 mummies, two of them gilded and believed to be those of the famous couple.
The coins discovered in the temple show Cleopatra with a large nose, prompting some scholars to theorise that the queen's beauty was just a myth.
Hawass disagrees.
"A big nose doesn't mean she was ugly. I know many beautiful women with big noese ... The woman who captured the hearts of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony couldn't have been ugly".
He also has a theory on the legendary love triangle: "People say she was in love with Caesar rather than Mark Antony. Martinez, however, believes she was in love with the latter. But my opinion is that her motive was political control and she used her charms on both men."
The other important find is a mask depicting a man with a cleft chin. The face bears some resemblance to known protraits of Mark Antony.
But so far the evidence isn't strong enough to verify that these are the tombs of Antony and Cleopatra, says Hawass: "After more than 60 per cent of the excavation ... we can say the theory could be true because of finds like the statues of Cleopatra and her coins. We also discovered two gold-covered mummies in front of the temple entrance of the temple and eight ungilded mummies.
"Luck plays a big role in discoveries like there," he adds. "I'm a lucky person."
Hinting perhaps at a future expedition, he points to evidence suggesting Alexander the Great was buried in Alexandria. For now though, his focus is on Taposiris Magna, where the team is still busy trying to identify the mummies.
The other development exciting the Egyptologist is the analysis of mummies of the family members of King Tutankhamun, whose famed gold death mask is on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
"I will announce next month the results of CT scanning and DNA analysis. It will tell us more about his father, mother, grandfather and how Tutankhamun died," he explains.
This project benefits hugely from two laboratories, one in he basement of the Cairo musuem and the other at Cairo University. They are the first in the world established specially for mummy analysis. "We need two separate labs so as to verify the results," he says, adding that research done in this way meets international standards and ensures all mummy identification can be done in Egypt.
Of all his discoveries, Hawass says he's proudest of the tombs of the Pyramid builders, one unearthed at Giza and the other at the Valley of the Golden Mummies in the Bahariya Oasis. The digs, he says, overturned long-held beliefs that the pyramids were built by slaves rather than Egyptians.
Hawass is also leading a campaign to repatriate Egyptian artefacts that have been whisked away to foreign musuems. His main focus is the "big five": the Rosetta Stone (in the British Museum), the Nefertiti Bust (in the British Museum), the Nefertiti Bust (in Berlin's Altes Museum), the zodiac ceiling painting from the Dendera Temple (the Louvre), the bust of Ankhhaf, architect of the Khafra Pyramid (Boston's Museum of Fine Arts) and the statue of Hemiunu, nephew of the Pharaoh Khufu and architect of Giza's Great Pyramid (Germany's Pelizaeus Museum).
"Now I'd like to add a sixth, the statue of Rameses II in Turin," he says.
"I'm writing a letter to the Berlin museum to say that I've found no proof the bust of Nefertiti left Egypt legally.
"I don't want everything back, but I want the return of that which has been stolen from Egypt," he emphasises, adding that it takes a lot of "passion, pride and writing" to recover such high-profile artefacts.
LARGE-SCALE TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE PLANNED FOR CORE INDUSTRIES
The rice-milling, rubber-production and chicken-raising industries are being targeted for new-technology assistance by the Technology Management Centre's Industrial Technology Assistance Programme (iTAP).
Under what is called the iTAP Big Impact scheme, TMC plans to offer its services and funding subsidies to help greater numbers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the three flagship industries.
TMC's director Chatchanart Theptharanon said the ambitious move was aimed at helping the many SMEs involved in the three vitally important industries to adopt technologies to improve their productivity and save energy.
The industries were chosen because they generated Thailand's core revenue.
The concept of the programme is to use TMC's existing services to help a mass of SMEs rather than providing tailor-made technology assistance for individual organisations.
"iTAP's approach has been continously developed. We began by offering technology assistance on a one-to-one basis, and then with a group-to-group approach and a cluster approacg, until now we think we should scale up this body of knowledge to help core-industry SMEs on a mass scale, with the goal of making a big impact on the country," Chatchanart said.
In the rice-production industry, iTAP will improve the rice-milling process by providing consultancy to farmers on technique. At a pilot plant, the productivity of a rice mill has been increased 20 per cent, along with savings in energy use.
"For rice mills with a capacity of 60 to 120 tonnes per day, we can help them save up to Bt500,000 a year in energy costs. If we can implement our services in all of Thailand's 43,000 rice mills, we can reduce energy costs by up to Bt21 billion a year," Chatchanart said.
Initially, TMC will deploy its rice-milling service through its partner, Khon Kaen University, which will take care of 50 rice mills in the north-eastern region. Then, the programme's coverage will be scaled up through TMC's university networks throughout the country.
In the rubber industry, Chatchanart said iTAP's service was aimed at raising the productivity of the rubber fumigation operation and saving energy costs by improving rubber ovens.
Rubber fumigation with tradition soild ovens can fumigate 1,200 pieces of rubber. Using three ovens, each fumigation operation takes four or five days to complete, usually producing rubber pieces of varying quality and creating the risk of fire.
A new oven designed and developed by TMC reduces the time taken by fumigation to only three days and produces rubber pieces of uniform quality. The risk of fire is eliminated, she said.
In Thailand, there are 660 rubber-fumigation plants, each of them normally requiring three ovens. If all of them adopted the locally developed ovens - about 2,000 ovens for 660 plants - they would save Bt200 million a year in energy costs.
Chatchanart said the beauty of the plan was it would enable 6 million rubber farmers with trees covering 4 million rai to keep their fresh rubber until they had orders or until the price of rubber pieces was high enough for them to sell.
"If we reduce time spent in rubber fumigation, we save up to 40 per cent of the energy used in the process, and the higher quality of the fumigated rubber will help to improve the price.
"From our research, each new oven will raise profits by up to Bt165,000 a year. Importantly, it will also lift revenue from the export of piece-rubber, which is now about Bt70 billion a year, out of the Bt220-billion value of rubber exports," Chatchanart said.
TMC is working with partners, including Walailak University and King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, to pilot the project with the Rubber Plantation Cooperative and Industrial Office in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, by deploying the newly developed oven in a rubber fumigation plant there.
In the chicken-raising industry, the programme plans to install locally made air-control fans in chicken-feeding houses. The 50-inch fans are cheaper than imported models and produce no noise.
Chatchanart said working with King's Mongkut's University of Technology Thon Buri and the Betagro Group, iTAP had developed 50-inch air-control fans that were half the cost of imported models and achieved a 23-per-cent energy saving.
"Normally, each chicken-feeding house requires 10 air-control fans. If all of the 64,000 chiecken-feeding houses in Thailand deployed this technology, the country would save up to Bt1.3 billion a year," Chatchanart said.
The locally made fans will also relieve tension and stress among the chickens because they produce no noise, she said.
"In all these programs, iTAP will provide up to 50 per cent of the total cost of technology deployment but not more than Bt500,000. Up to now, we've helped about 300 SNEs, but we plan to significantly increase those numbers through iTAP Big Impact," she said.
Under what is called the iTAP Big Impact scheme, TMC plans to offer its services and funding subsidies to help greater numbers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the three flagship industries.
TMC's director Chatchanart Theptharanon said the ambitious move was aimed at helping the many SMEs involved in the three vitally important industries to adopt technologies to improve their productivity and save energy.
The industries were chosen because they generated Thailand's core revenue.
The concept of the programme is to use TMC's existing services to help a mass of SMEs rather than providing tailor-made technology assistance for individual organisations.
"iTAP's approach has been continously developed. We began by offering technology assistance on a one-to-one basis, and then with a group-to-group approach and a cluster approacg, until now we think we should scale up this body of knowledge to help core-industry SMEs on a mass scale, with the goal of making a big impact on the country," Chatchanart said.
In the rice-production industry, iTAP will improve the rice-milling process by providing consultancy to farmers on technique. At a pilot plant, the productivity of a rice mill has been increased 20 per cent, along with savings in energy use.
"For rice mills with a capacity of 60 to 120 tonnes per day, we can help them save up to Bt500,000 a year in energy costs. If we can implement our services in all of Thailand's 43,000 rice mills, we can reduce energy costs by up to Bt21 billion a year," Chatchanart said.
Initially, TMC will deploy its rice-milling service through its partner, Khon Kaen University, which will take care of 50 rice mills in the north-eastern region. Then, the programme's coverage will be scaled up through TMC's university networks throughout the country.
In the rubber industry, Chatchanart said iTAP's service was aimed at raising the productivity of the rubber fumigation operation and saving energy costs by improving rubber ovens.
Rubber fumigation with tradition soild ovens can fumigate 1,200 pieces of rubber. Using three ovens, each fumigation operation takes four or five days to complete, usually producing rubber pieces of varying quality and creating the risk of fire.
A new oven designed and developed by TMC reduces the time taken by fumigation to only three days and produces rubber pieces of uniform quality. The risk of fire is eliminated, she said.
In Thailand, there are 660 rubber-fumigation plants, each of them normally requiring three ovens. If all of them adopted the locally developed ovens - about 2,000 ovens for 660 plants - they would save Bt200 million a year in energy costs.
Chatchanart said the beauty of the plan was it would enable 6 million rubber farmers with trees covering 4 million rai to keep their fresh rubber until they had orders or until the price of rubber pieces was high enough for them to sell.
"If we reduce time spent in rubber fumigation, we save up to 40 per cent of the energy used in the process, and the higher quality of the fumigated rubber will help to improve the price.
"From our research, each new oven will raise profits by up to Bt165,000 a year. Importantly, it will also lift revenue from the export of piece-rubber, which is now about Bt70 billion a year, out of the Bt220-billion value of rubber exports," Chatchanart said.
TMC is working with partners, including Walailak University and King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, to pilot the project with the Rubber Plantation Cooperative and Industrial Office in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, by deploying the newly developed oven in a rubber fumigation plant there.
In the chicken-raising industry, the programme plans to install locally made air-control fans in chicken-feeding houses. The 50-inch fans are cheaper than imported models and produce no noise.
Chatchanart said working with King's Mongkut's University of Technology Thon Buri and the Betagro Group, iTAP had developed 50-inch air-control fans that were half the cost of imported models and achieved a 23-per-cent energy saving.
"Normally, each chicken-feeding house requires 10 air-control fans. If all of the 64,000 chiecken-feeding houses in Thailand deployed this technology, the country would save up to Bt1.3 billion a year," Chatchanart said.
The locally made fans will also relieve tension and stress among the chickens because they produce no noise, she said.
"In all these programs, iTAP will provide up to 50 per cent of the total cost of technology deployment but not more than Bt500,000. Up to now, we've helped about 300 SNEs, but we plan to significantly increase those numbers through iTAP Big Impact," she said.
UK releases a treasure trove of UFO reports
Lemon-headed aliens,scrambled fighter jets and mysterious lights over a cemetery were among details of some 800 UFO sightings released by British authorities on Monday.
But another intriguing finding to emerge from the 1981-1996 archives was a surge in reports at the time of UFOrelated blockbusters such as 1996's Independence Day , not to mention the British television run of The X-Files .Among the most striking accounts released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is that of two boys who reported being spoken to by an alien with a lemonshaped head, who appeared before them in a field on May 4,1995.
"We want you, come with us," said the alien's voice, according to a police interview with the youngsters, who seemed "agitated and distressed".
"They stated the object was about four houses high in the sky and about [12m] away from them," said the report.
In another account, a former armed forces chief urged authorities to take more seriously a report by US air force staff near an airbase in eastern England.
The individuals "reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest",early on the morning of Dec 27,1980,according to a US air force commander.
"It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it manoeuvred through the trees and disappeared."
Then there is the report of how, between November 1989 and April 1990,the Belgian air force scrambled F-16 fighter jets to investigate a series of UFO sightings, and reportedly "locked on"to the objects with their radar.
"The mystery remains unresolved,"wrote General Wilfried de Brouwer, Chief of Operations, Belgian Air Staff, adding that despite being sceptical,"the evidence was remarkable".
One of the spookiest eyewitness accounts occurred in the early hours of July 15,1996, when a UFO was spotted hovering over a cemetery in Widnes,northwest England, before firing burning laser beams into the ground.
Cynics would note that the man involved was heading home from a night out at the time, possibly in a similar mental state to two revellers who claimed to have seen a UFO hovering over the jazz tent at the 1994 Glastonbury music festival.
Sceptics will also take heart from a more general trend revealed by the newly released archives, one that gives credence to the power of suggestion.
"It's evident there is some connection between newspaper stories, TV programmes and films about alien visitors and the numbers of UFO sightings reported," said UFO expert and journalism lecturer David Clarke.
"Aside from 1996, one of the busiest years for UFO sightings reported to the MoD over the past half century was 1978,the year Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released," he added.
But another intriguing finding to emerge from the 1981-1996 archives was a surge in reports at the time of UFOrelated blockbusters such as 1996's Independence Day , not to mention the British television run of The X-Files .Among the most striking accounts released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is that of two boys who reported being spoken to by an alien with a lemonshaped head, who appeared before them in a field on May 4,1995.
"We want you, come with us," said the alien's voice, according to a police interview with the youngsters, who seemed "agitated and distressed".
"They stated the object was about four houses high in the sky and about [12m] away from them," said the report.
In another account, a former armed forces chief urged authorities to take more seriously a report by US air force staff near an airbase in eastern England.
The individuals "reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest",early on the morning of Dec 27,1980,according to a US air force commander.
"It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it manoeuvred through the trees and disappeared."
Then there is the report of how, between November 1989 and April 1990,the Belgian air force scrambled F-16 fighter jets to investigate a series of UFO sightings, and reportedly "locked on"to the objects with their radar.
"The mystery remains unresolved,"wrote General Wilfried de Brouwer, Chief of Operations, Belgian Air Staff, adding that despite being sceptical,"the evidence was remarkable".
One of the spookiest eyewitness accounts occurred in the early hours of July 15,1996, when a UFO was spotted hovering over a cemetery in Widnes,northwest England, before firing burning laser beams into the ground.
Cynics would note that the man involved was heading home from a night out at the time, possibly in a similar mental state to two revellers who claimed to have seen a UFO hovering over the jazz tent at the 1994 Glastonbury music festival.
Sceptics will also take heart from a more general trend revealed by the newly released archives, one that gives credence to the power of suggestion.
"It's evident there is some connection between newspaper stories, TV programmes and films about alien visitors and the numbers of UFO sightings reported," said UFO expert and journalism lecturer David Clarke.
"Aside from 1996, one of the busiest years for UFO sightings reported to the MoD over the past half century was 1978,the year Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released," he added.
S. Korea prepares first space rocket launch
South Korea was yesterday counting down to the launch of its first space rocket, a move aimed at joining Asia's space race despite protests from rival North Korea.
Officials said the rocket partially built by Russia would blast off late today,weather permitting, and put into orbit a South Korean-built 100kg satellite.
A successful launch from the Naro Space Centre at Goheung,475km south of Seoul, will mean the nation has joined an elite club of nine nations which have put a satellite into orbit.
Security was tight around the launch site, where about 1,600 police were on guard. The Defence Ministry said a squadron of fighter jets and an Aegisclass warship would deploy in the area.
Today's blast-off has been delayed several times from late 2008 for technical reasons.
South Korea has sent 10 satellites into space using launch vehicles from other countries. Seoul announced a plan to launch a lunar orbiter by 2020.
Officials said the rocket partially built by Russia would blast off late today,weather permitting, and put into orbit a South Korean-built 100kg satellite.
A successful launch from the Naro Space Centre at Goheung,475km south of Seoul, will mean the nation has joined an elite club of nine nations which have put a satellite into orbit.
Security was tight around the launch site, where about 1,600 police were on guard. The Defence Ministry said a squadron of fighter jets and an Aegisclass warship would deploy in the area.
Today's blast-off has been delayed several times from late 2008 for technical reasons.
South Korea has sent 10 satellites into space using launch vehicles from other countries. Seoul announced a plan to launch a lunar orbiter by 2020.
Building block of life found on comet
The amino acid glycine, a fundamental building block of proteins, has been found in a comet for the first time, bolstering the theory that the raw ingredients of life arrived on Earth from outer space, scientists said on Monday.
Microscopic traces of glycine were discovered in a sample of particles retrieved from the tail of comet Wild 2 by the Nasa spacecraft Stardust, deep in the solar system, about 390 million km from Earth, in January 2004.
Samples of gas and dust collected on a small dish lined with a super-fluffy material called aerogel were returned to Earth two years later in a canister that detached from the spacecraft and landed by parachute in the Utah desert.
Comets like Wild 2, named for astronomer Paul Wild, are believed to contain well-preserved grains of material dating from the dawn of the solar system billions of years ago, and thus clues to the formation of the Sun and planets.
The initial detection of glycine, the most common of 20 amino acids in proteins on Earth, was reported last year,but it took time for scientists to confirm that the compound in question was extraterrestrial in origin.
"We couldn't be sure it wasn't from the manufacturing or the handling of the spacecraft," said astrobiologist Jamie Elsila of Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Dr Elsila presented the findings,accepted for publication in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science , to a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington this week.
"We've seen amino acids in meteorites before, but this is the first time it's been detected in a comet," she said.
Chains of amino acids are strung together to form protein molecules in everything from hair to the enzymes that regulate chemical reactions inside living organisms. Scientists have long puzzled over whether these complex organic compounds originated on Earth or in space. The latest findings add credence to the notion that extraterrestrial objects such as meteorites and comets may have seeded ancient Earth, and other planets, with the raw materials of life that formed elsewhere in the cosmos.
"The discovery of glycine in a comet supports the idea that the fundamental building blocks of life are prevalent in space, and strengthens the argument that life in the universe may be common rather than rare," said Carl Pilcher, the director of the Nasa Astrobiology Institute in California.
Glycine and other amino acids have been found in a number of meteorites before, most notably one that landed near the town of Murchison, Australia in 1969, Dr Elsila said.
Microscopic traces of glycine were discovered in a sample of particles retrieved from the tail of comet Wild 2 by the Nasa spacecraft Stardust, deep in the solar system, about 390 million km from Earth, in January 2004.
Samples of gas and dust collected on a small dish lined with a super-fluffy material called aerogel were returned to Earth two years later in a canister that detached from the spacecraft and landed by parachute in the Utah desert.
Comets like Wild 2, named for astronomer Paul Wild, are believed to contain well-preserved grains of material dating from the dawn of the solar system billions of years ago, and thus clues to the formation of the Sun and planets.
The initial detection of glycine, the most common of 20 amino acids in proteins on Earth, was reported last year,but it took time for scientists to confirm that the compound in question was extraterrestrial in origin.
"We couldn't be sure it wasn't from the manufacturing or the handling of the spacecraft," said astrobiologist Jamie Elsila of Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Dr Elsila presented the findings,accepted for publication in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science , to a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington this week.
"We've seen amino acids in meteorites before, but this is the first time it's been detected in a comet," she said.
Chains of amino acids are strung together to form protein molecules in everything from hair to the enzymes that regulate chemical reactions inside living organisms. Scientists have long puzzled over whether these complex organic compounds originated on Earth or in space. The latest findings add credence to the notion that extraterrestrial objects such as meteorites and comets may have seeded ancient Earth, and other planets, with the raw materials of life that formed elsewhere in the cosmos.
"The discovery of glycine in a comet supports the idea that the fundamental building blocks of life are prevalent in space, and strengthens the argument that life in the universe may be common rather than rare," said Carl Pilcher, the director of the Nasa Astrobiology Institute in California.
Glycine and other amino acids have been found in a number of meteorites before, most notably one that landed near the town of Murchison, Australia in 1969, Dr Elsila said.
L'Oreal lauds bone expert
Recently, Prof Dr Nateetip Krishnamra, head of the Consortium for Calcium and Bone Research (Cocab) at Mahidol University's Faculty of Science, received the "L'Ore'al Special Science Recognition in Sustainable Development" award.
The bestowing of the special acclaim took place on the occasion of L'Ore' al's 100th anniversary, and was aimed at selecting and applauding a successful Thai female scientist aged over 40 whose research contributes sustainable benefits to Thai society.
Prof Nateetip was chosen for Cocab's research work on prolactin, a protein hormone that balances calcium in the human body and performs a vital role in nursing mothers' production of milk for their babies. The team also found that prolactin stimulates intestinal calcium absorption and bone turnover and reduces the release of calcium through the urine.
The main objective of the research is "to help Thai people maintain strong bones", explained Prof Nateetip, who has been active in multidisciplinary research into calcium and bone metabolism for 30 years.
She added that a thorough understanding of prolactin may lead to new diagnoses and treatments of metabolic bone disorders. Metabolic bone diseases are among the major threats to most elderly people. It is expected that by 2020, Thailand's elderly population will number 14 million, almost double next year's figure of 7.5 million.
A related disease called osteoporosis affects people of all ages. It is a medical condition where the bones become brittle due to hormonal changes or lack of calcium or vitamin D, and is the number six cause of death among Thai people,especially women.
According to Prof Nateetip, the research covers studies of the role of prolactin and changes in calcium balance and bone turnover during human pathology.
The research also aims to develop new technology to accommodate research into calcium and bone such as electrophysiological techniques, atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation.
Dr Kopr Kamnuanthip, honorary chairman of the recognition committee,said that there were two special elements to the award: It was the first time the focus was on sustainable development,and the first time the person honoured was a female scientist.
"This act of recognition is intended to encourage more women to enter the various branches of the science industry as well as to instil greater confidence in practising female scientists to continue their creative work in their career," said Dr Kopr.
The recipient has to be an acknowledged successful researcher and her research must have been published in an international journal and accepted by her professional peers, Dr Kopr said,explaining the criteria used in the judging process.
Besides being the head of Cocab, Prof Nateetip teaches at the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University. Prof Nateetip was a doctoral student awardee of the Prof Tab Nilanithi Foundation in 1997. She won the Faculty of Science's Best Teacher Award in 2002 and the Thailand Research Fund's Senior Research Scholar prize from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2007 to 2009.
The bestowing of the special acclaim took place on the occasion of L'Ore' al's 100th anniversary, and was aimed at selecting and applauding a successful Thai female scientist aged over 40 whose research contributes sustainable benefits to Thai society.
Prof Nateetip was chosen for Cocab's research work on prolactin, a protein hormone that balances calcium in the human body and performs a vital role in nursing mothers' production of milk for their babies. The team also found that prolactin stimulates intestinal calcium absorption and bone turnover and reduces the release of calcium through the urine.
The main objective of the research is "to help Thai people maintain strong bones", explained Prof Nateetip, who has been active in multidisciplinary research into calcium and bone metabolism for 30 years.
She added that a thorough understanding of prolactin may lead to new diagnoses and treatments of metabolic bone disorders. Metabolic bone diseases are among the major threats to most elderly people. It is expected that by 2020, Thailand's elderly population will number 14 million, almost double next year's figure of 7.5 million.
A related disease called osteoporosis affects people of all ages. It is a medical condition where the bones become brittle due to hormonal changes or lack of calcium or vitamin D, and is the number six cause of death among Thai people,especially women.
According to Prof Nateetip, the research covers studies of the role of prolactin and changes in calcium balance and bone turnover during human pathology.
The research also aims to develop new technology to accommodate research into calcium and bone such as electrophysiological techniques, atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation.
Dr Kopr Kamnuanthip, honorary chairman of the recognition committee,said that there were two special elements to the award: It was the first time the focus was on sustainable development,and the first time the person honoured was a female scientist.
"This act of recognition is intended to encourage more women to enter the various branches of the science industry as well as to instil greater confidence in practising female scientists to continue their creative work in their career," said Dr Kopr.
The recipient has to be an acknowledged successful researcher and her research must have been published in an international journal and accepted by her professional peers, Dr Kopr said,explaining the criteria used in the judging process.
Besides being the head of Cocab, Prof Nateetip teaches at the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University. Prof Nateetip was a doctoral student awardee of the Prof Tab Nilanithi Foundation in 1997. She won the Faculty of Science's Best Teacher Award in 2002 and the Thailand Research Fund's Senior Research Scholar prize from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2007 to 2009.
Using scientific tools in an international war on fake drugs
"Let's use some Atlanta drug money," said Facundo M.Fernandez, a chemistry professor, as he picked out a limp, ratty dollar note from his wallet and handed it to one of his graduate students.
Minutes later, after running the bill through the laboratory's high-technology machinery, the chemists had found what they were looking for: Traces of cocaine.
Fernandez, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said that the demonstration, which he repeated with other bills provided by a reporter, showed both how pervasive cocaine was in the US and how sensitive his machines were.
They can instantly identify the chemical make-up of food, drugs and just about anything placed in front of their stainless-steel aperture. The uses of the machines, known as mass spectrometers,are manifold - the federal Department of Homeland Security has commissioned Fernandez to study whether the technology can help sniff for explosives at airports.
But Fernandez's main focus is counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs, especially in poorer countries, where government regulation is weak. He is part of an informal group of researchers and government officials spanning Africa,Asia and the US who have teamed up with Interpol, the international police agency, to use cutting-edge technology in tracking fake drugs that claim to treat malaria. Counterfeit malaria drugs are of particular concern because of the scale and severity of the disease - it kills more than 2,000 children a day in Africa alone - and fears that fake or substandard malaria drugs are aggravating a growing problem of drug resistance.
For years, scientists have been able to analyse the ingredients of a pill or capsule using mass spectrometers, which identify chemicals bymeasuring molecular weights. But the overall process was time-consuming, taking about an hour per sample.
A scientific breakthrough in 2005 added an "ion gun" to the machines and allowed Fernandez to check hundreds of pills a day. A technician simply holds the sample - a pill, dog food or a dollar bill, for example - up to the machine, which emits a jet of helium gas and captures a minute amount of the material, instantly identifying its components.
Contrary to the common belief that counterfeit drugs are just sugar pills,Fernandez said, most fakes have some level of active ingredient. Many contain the cheap and readily available pain reliever paracetamol, which might temporarily soothe some symptoms but will not fight the underlying disease.
Sometimes researchers find harmful or very unexpected chemicals. Once,when analysing what was suspected to be a counterfeit anti-malarial pill, his team discovered traces of sildenafil, the main ingredient in the anti-impotency drug Viagra.
"We feel like detectives," said Fernandez, who is from Argentina."You never know what you're going to find."
The counterfeit drug business has become increasingly attractive for criminal syndicates; the profit potential is vast, yet the punishment for those caught is typically much less severe than for illegal drugs like cocaine, law enforcement officials say.
This is especially true in Asia, where many countries impose the death penalty for trafficking heroin, Ecstasy or even marijuana but where combating counterfeit drugs is not a priority.
Three years ago, the World Health Organisation estimated that as many as one in four pharmaceutical drugs sold in the developing world were counterfeit.It is impossible to know the exact level,but there is general agreement that the level of fake drugs is "unacceptably high",in the words of the organisation.
"We have discovered that no class of drugs had been spared," said Aline Plancon, the head of Interpol's counterfeit drug department."It's not just primary medicines. There's also lifestyle drugs, herbal drugs, vaccines."
Counterfeiters have become more sophisticated in recent years, churning out pills and packaging that look like the real thing.
But as the work of Fernandez and others indicates, the sleuthing, too, is becoming more high-technology, relying on innovative forensic tools.
Dallas C. Mildenhall, another scientist in the anti-counterfeit network, helps track fake drugs by analysing the microscopic pollen grains embedded in the pills or packaging. Forensic investigators have used pollen grains for decades to help solve murders and other crimes,but Mildenhall pioneered using the tiny grains, which are ubiquitous in clothing,nostrils, hair, food and nearly everything exposed to air, to help combat counterfeiters.
Because many plants are specific to certain parts of the world, pollen helps determine where the drugs were manufactured."Pollen markers give you an idea of the environment," Mildenhall said by telephone from his office in New Zealand, where he is a researcher at GNS Science, a government organisation."Is it wet, dry, hot, cold? Are the soils acidic or not?"
Mildenhall's work has helped establish that many counterfeits come from the border area between China and Vietnam as well as the general vicinity of the Golden Triangle, the area famous for heroin production where the borders of Laos, Burma and Thailand meet.
Three years ago, an analysis by Mildenhall of both pollen grains and specific minerals found in counterfeits helped pinpoint production to one particular site in southern China. In what was dubbed Operation Jupiter, Interpol handed over the evidence, and the Chinese government arrested three suspects.
Mildenhall is now involved in a project led by Paul N. Newton, the head of the Oxford University Centre for Tropical Medicine in Laos, to determine whether counterfeit anti-malarial drugs found in Africa were imported from Asia or manufactured locally.
"In Africa, it's often said that fake drugs are coming from India and China,"Newton said from his office in Vientiane,the capital of Laos."We don't have any evidence ourselves at the moment to confirm or deny that."
The study results will be out later this year, said Newton, who has led the research on counterfeit anti-malarial drugs.
Using technology to combat counterfeit drugs has been a "necessary complement" to old-fashioned police work, said Plancon of Interpol. But she said the main obstacle to cracking down on fakes was a lack of political will and cooperation between countries.
"Politicians need to understand that this problem is much more serious than they think," she said in a phone interview from her office in Geneva."The more we work on these criminal networks,the more we see that they're interconnected across continents."
Plancon said that the police were discovering vast quantities of counterfeit drugs in Asia. Last year, in a coordinated police crackdown called Operation Storm, Interpol announced that 200 raids in Southeast Asia had yielded 16 million doses of fake drugs, with a street value of $6.6 million (225 million baht).
Officials from Cambodia, China, Laos,Burma, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the operation, which resulted in 27 arrests.
Sabine Kopp, the acting head of anticounterfeiting activities at the World Health Organisation, said that Interpol's role had helped pressure governments into action."There's a lot more discussion," Kopp said."There's a lot more agreement to share information."
But there are also signs that the problem is spreading. Plancon said the police were discovering not only counterfeit drugs but fake medical supplies like blood bags, syringes and contact lenses.
Mass spectrometers may have a role in weeding out some of these counterfeits.Fernandez, of Georgia Tech, is using them to test whether mosquito nets treated with insecticide, a crucial way to combat malaria, are genuine.
One major limitation of using the technology is cost. A typical mass spectrometer goes for about $150,000(5.1 million baht), a budget-breaker for governments of poorer countries.
With time, though, Fernandez hopes,costs will come down far enough that machines could be installed in local pharmacies."I always dream that at some point the end-consumer will be able to check," Fernandez said."You put your tablet in front of a machine and you get a red light or a green light.That would be the end of counterfeit drugs."
Minutes later, after running the bill through the laboratory's high-technology machinery, the chemists had found what they were looking for: Traces of cocaine.
Fernandez, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said that the demonstration, which he repeated with other bills provided by a reporter, showed both how pervasive cocaine was in the US and how sensitive his machines were.
They can instantly identify the chemical make-up of food, drugs and just about anything placed in front of their stainless-steel aperture. The uses of the machines, known as mass spectrometers,are manifold - the federal Department of Homeland Security has commissioned Fernandez to study whether the technology can help sniff for explosives at airports.
But Fernandez's main focus is counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs, especially in poorer countries, where government regulation is weak. He is part of an informal group of researchers and government officials spanning Africa,Asia and the US who have teamed up with Interpol, the international police agency, to use cutting-edge technology in tracking fake drugs that claim to treat malaria. Counterfeit malaria drugs are of particular concern because of the scale and severity of the disease - it kills more than 2,000 children a day in Africa alone - and fears that fake or substandard malaria drugs are aggravating a growing problem of drug resistance.
For years, scientists have been able to analyse the ingredients of a pill or capsule using mass spectrometers, which identify chemicals bymeasuring molecular weights. But the overall process was time-consuming, taking about an hour per sample.
A scientific breakthrough in 2005 added an "ion gun" to the machines and allowed Fernandez to check hundreds of pills a day. A technician simply holds the sample - a pill, dog food or a dollar bill, for example - up to the machine, which emits a jet of helium gas and captures a minute amount of the material, instantly identifying its components.
Contrary to the common belief that counterfeit drugs are just sugar pills,Fernandez said, most fakes have some level of active ingredient. Many contain the cheap and readily available pain reliever paracetamol, which might temporarily soothe some symptoms but will not fight the underlying disease.
Sometimes researchers find harmful or very unexpected chemicals. Once,when analysing what was suspected to be a counterfeit anti-malarial pill, his team discovered traces of sildenafil, the main ingredient in the anti-impotency drug Viagra.
"We feel like detectives," said Fernandez, who is from Argentina."You never know what you're going to find."
The counterfeit drug business has become increasingly attractive for criminal syndicates; the profit potential is vast, yet the punishment for those caught is typically much less severe than for illegal drugs like cocaine, law enforcement officials say.
This is especially true in Asia, where many countries impose the death penalty for trafficking heroin, Ecstasy or even marijuana but where combating counterfeit drugs is not a priority.
Three years ago, the World Health Organisation estimated that as many as one in four pharmaceutical drugs sold in the developing world were counterfeit.It is impossible to know the exact level,but there is general agreement that the level of fake drugs is "unacceptably high",in the words of the organisation.
"We have discovered that no class of drugs had been spared," said Aline Plancon, the head of Interpol's counterfeit drug department."It's not just primary medicines. There's also lifestyle drugs, herbal drugs, vaccines."
Counterfeiters have become more sophisticated in recent years, churning out pills and packaging that look like the real thing.
But as the work of Fernandez and others indicates, the sleuthing, too, is becoming more high-technology, relying on innovative forensic tools.
Dallas C. Mildenhall, another scientist in the anti-counterfeit network, helps track fake drugs by analysing the microscopic pollen grains embedded in the pills or packaging. Forensic investigators have used pollen grains for decades to help solve murders and other crimes,but Mildenhall pioneered using the tiny grains, which are ubiquitous in clothing,nostrils, hair, food and nearly everything exposed to air, to help combat counterfeiters.
Because many plants are specific to certain parts of the world, pollen helps determine where the drugs were manufactured."Pollen markers give you an idea of the environment," Mildenhall said by telephone from his office in New Zealand, where he is a researcher at GNS Science, a government organisation."Is it wet, dry, hot, cold? Are the soils acidic or not?"
Mildenhall's work has helped establish that many counterfeits come from the border area between China and Vietnam as well as the general vicinity of the Golden Triangle, the area famous for heroin production where the borders of Laos, Burma and Thailand meet.
Three years ago, an analysis by Mildenhall of both pollen grains and specific minerals found in counterfeits helped pinpoint production to one particular site in southern China. In what was dubbed Operation Jupiter, Interpol handed over the evidence, and the Chinese government arrested three suspects.
Mildenhall is now involved in a project led by Paul N. Newton, the head of the Oxford University Centre for Tropical Medicine in Laos, to determine whether counterfeit anti-malarial drugs found in Africa were imported from Asia or manufactured locally.
"In Africa, it's often said that fake drugs are coming from India and China,"Newton said from his office in Vientiane,the capital of Laos."We don't have any evidence ourselves at the moment to confirm or deny that."
The study results will be out later this year, said Newton, who has led the research on counterfeit anti-malarial drugs.
Using technology to combat counterfeit drugs has been a "necessary complement" to old-fashioned police work, said Plancon of Interpol. But she said the main obstacle to cracking down on fakes was a lack of political will and cooperation between countries.
"Politicians need to understand that this problem is much more serious than they think," she said in a phone interview from her office in Geneva."The more we work on these criminal networks,the more we see that they're interconnected across continents."
Plancon said that the police were discovering vast quantities of counterfeit drugs in Asia. Last year, in a coordinated police crackdown called Operation Storm, Interpol announced that 200 raids in Southeast Asia had yielded 16 million doses of fake drugs, with a street value of $6.6 million (225 million baht).
Officials from Cambodia, China, Laos,Burma, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the operation, which resulted in 27 arrests.
Sabine Kopp, the acting head of anticounterfeiting activities at the World Health Organisation, said that Interpol's role had helped pressure governments into action."There's a lot more discussion," Kopp said."There's a lot more agreement to share information."
But there are also signs that the problem is spreading. Plancon said the police were discovering not only counterfeit drugs but fake medical supplies like blood bags, syringes and contact lenses.
Mass spectrometers may have a role in weeding out some of these counterfeits.Fernandez, of Georgia Tech, is using them to test whether mosquito nets treated with insecticide, a crucial way to combat malaria, are genuine.
One major limitation of using the technology is cost. A typical mass spectrometer goes for about $150,000(5.1 million baht), a budget-breaker for governments of poorer countries.
With time, though, Fernandez hopes,costs will come down far enough that machines could be installed in local pharmacies."I always dream that at some point the end-consumer will be able to check," Fernandez said."You put your tablet in front of a machine and you get a red light or a green light.That would be the end of counterfeit drugs."
EDUCATIONAL SHOWS STILL RARE ON TV
Knowledge and science shows make up a scant 1.9 per cent of all programming on the six free television channels, according to a Media Monitor study released yesterday.
Thai PBS airs eight of such programmes weekly while Modernine TV carries seven and state-run Channel 11 broadcasts five.
Channels 3, 5 and 7 offer only two such programmes, Media Monitor producer Tham Chuasathapanasiri said yesterday.
The 26 programmes take up 1,137 minutes per week, or 1.9 per cent of total airtime. Eight of them are produced abroad and do not fit with local viewers completely, due to their foreign context.
The finding was not much different from an earlier study by the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), which counted 2.9 per cent of weekly airtime for such programmes.
While imported series, such as "MegaClever", "Sponge" and "Beyond Tomorrow", have proved a hit here, the NSTDA is also turning out local versions.
Omjai Saimek, a senior NSTDA official, praised "MegaClever" as a pioneering programme, drawing more than 2 million viewers and making the local audience more interested in science and technology-oriented content.
She said it was not easy to produce such works in Thailand, with limited sponsorship in television broadcasting or funding during production.
Akkharat Nitiphon, a TV producer, said the production of quality programmes was always a financial risk while most viewers were still interested mainly in dramas or game shows.
"The competition among producers to compete for prime time is always won by those who make soap operas or game shows," he said.
But more airtime was being allocated to science programmes and to make them more popular, factual information on science and technology and an interesting presentation were the keys to success, he added.
Thai PBS airs eight of such programmes weekly while Modernine TV carries seven and state-run Channel 11 broadcasts five.
Channels 3, 5 and 7 offer only two such programmes, Media Monitor producer Tham Chuasathapanasiri said yesterday.
The 26 programmes take up 1,137 minutes per week, or 1.9 per cent of total airtime. Eight of them are produced abroad and do not fit with local viewers completely, due to their foreign context.
The finding was not much different from an earlier study by the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), which counted 2.9 per cent of weekly airtime for such programmes.
While imported series, such as "MegaClever", "Sponge" and "Beyond Tomorrow", have proved a hit here, the NSTDA is also turning out local versions.
Omjai Saimek, a senior NSTDA official, praised "MegaClever" as a pioneering programme, drawing more than 2 million viewers and making the local audience more interested in science and technology-oriented content.
She said it was not easy to produce such works in Thailand, with limited sponsorship in television broadcasting or funding during production.
Akkharat Nitiphon, a TV producer, said the production of quality programmes was always a financial risk while most viewers were still interested mainly in dramas or game shows.
"The competition among producers to compete for prime time is always won by those who make soap operas or game shows," he said.
But more airtime was being allocated to science programmes and to make them more popular, factual information on science and technology and an interesting presentation were the keys to success, he added.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)